Predicting the Microstructural Evolution of Electron Beam Melting of Alloy 718 with Phase-Field Modeling

Electron beam melting (EBM) is a powder bed additive manufacturing process where a powder material is melted selectively in a layer-by-layer approach using an electron beam. EBM has some unique features during the manufacture of components with high-performance superalloys that are commonly used in gas turbines such as Alloy 718. EBM has a high deposition rate due to its high beam energy and speed, comparatively low residual stresses, and limited problems with oxidation. However, due to the layer-by-layer melting approach and high powder bed temperature, the as-built EBM Alloy 718 exhibits a microstructural gradient starting from the top of the sample. In this study, we conducted modeling to obtain a deeper understanding of microstructural development during EBM and the homogenization that occurs during manufacturing with Alloy 718. A multicomponent phase-field modeling approach was combined with transformation kinetic modeling to predict the microstructural gradient and the results were compared with experimental observations. In particular, we investigated the segregation of elements during solidification and the subsequent “in situ” homogenization heat treatment at the elevated powder bed temperature. The predicted elemental composition was then used for thermodynamic modeling to predict the changes in the continuous cooling transformation and time–temperature transformation diagrams for Alloy 718, which helped to explain the observed phase evolution within the microstructure. The results indicate that the proposed approach can be employed as a valuable tool for understanding processes and for process development, including post-heat treatments

An N-terminal splice variant of human Stat5a that interacts with different transcription factors is the dominant form expressed in invasive ductal carcinoma

AbstractWe have identified a new variant of human Stat5a, found at higher ratios to full-length Stat5a in invasive ductal carcinoma versus contiguous normal tissue. The variant, missing exon 5, inhibits p21 and Bax production and increases cell number. After prolactin stimulation, only full-length Stat5a interacts with the vitamin D and retinoid X receptors, whereas only Δ5 Stat5a interacts with activating protein 1–2 and specificity protein 1. Prolactin also oppositely regulates interaction of the two Stat5a forms with β-catenin. We propose that a change in splicing leading to upregulation of this new isoform is a pathogenic aspect of invasive ductal carcinoma

Additively Manufactured Inconel 718 : Microstructures and Mechanical Properties

Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing, has gained significant interest in aerospace, energy, automotive and medical industries due to its capabilities of manufacturing components that are either prohibitively costly or impossible to manufacture by conventional processes. Among the various additive manufacturing processes for metallic components, electron beam melting (EBM) and selective laser melting (SLM) are two of the most widely used powder bed based processes, and have shown great potential for manufacturing high-end critical components, such as turbine blades and customized medical implants. The futures of the EBM and SLM are doubtlessly promising, but to fully realize their potentials there are still many challenges to overcome. Inconel 718 (IN718) is a nickel-base superalloy and has impressive combination of good mechanical properties and low cost. Though IN718 is being mostly used as a turbine disk material now, the initial introduction of IN718 was to overcome the poor weldability of superalloys in 1960s, since sluggish precipitation of strengthening phases λ’/λ’’ enables good resistance to strain-age cracking during welding or post weld heat treatment. Given the similarity between AM and welding processes, IN718 has been widely applied to the metallic AM field to facilitate the understandings of process-microstructure-property relationships. The work presented in this licentiate thesis aims to better understand microstructures and mechanical properties EBM and SLM IN718, which have not been systematically investigated. Microstructures of EBM and SLM IN718 have been characterized with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and correlated with the process conditions. Monotonic mechanical properties (e.g., Vickers microhardness and tensile properties) have also been measured and rationalized with regards to the microstructure evolutions before and after heat treatments. For EBM IN718, the results show the microstructure is not homogeneous but dependant on the location in the components, and the anisotropic mechanical properties are probably attributed to alignment of porosities rather than texture. Post heat treatment can slightly increase the mechanical strength compared to the as-manufactured condition but does not alter the anisotropy. SLM IN718 shows significantly different microstructure and mechanical properties to EBM IN718. The as-manufactured SLM IN718 has very fine dendritic microstructure and Laves phases in the interdendrites, and is “work-hardened” by the residual strains and dislocations present in the material. Mechanical properties are different between horizontally and vertically built samples, and heat treatment can minimize this difference. Results from this licentiate thesis provide the basis for the further research on the cyclic mechanical properties of EBM and SLM IN718, which would be the focus of following phase of the Ph.D. research.Information about opponent and seminar are missing.</p

On the Microstructures and Anisotropic Mechanical Behaviours of Additively Manufactured IN718

Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing, offers great design flexibility for manufacturing components with complex geometries, and has attracted significant interest in the aero and energy industries in the past decades. Among the commercial AM processes, selective laser melting (SLM) and electron beam melting (EBM) are the two most widely used ones for metallic materials. Inconel 718 (IN718) is a nickel-base superalloy and has impressive combination of good mechanical properties, weldability and low cost. Due to its excellent weldability, IN718 has been intensively applied in the AM filed, to gain more understanding of the AM processes and fully realize AM’s potentials. The study objects in the present thesis include both EBM and SLM IN718. The solidification conditions in EBM and SLM are very different and are different to that of conventional cast, leading to unique microstructures mechanical properties. Therefore, this thesis aims to gain better understanding of the microstructures and anisotropic mechanical behaviours of both EBM and SLM IN718, by detailed characterizations and by comparisons with the forged counterpart. The as-built microstructure of EBM IN718 is spatially dependent: the periphery (contour) region has a mixture of equiaxed and columnar grains, while the bulk (hatch) region has columnar grains elongated along the building direction; the last solidified region close to the top sample surface shows segregation and Laves phases, otherwise the rest of the whole sample is well homogenized. Differently, the as-built microstructure of SLM IN718 is spatially homogeneous: the grains is rather equiaxed and with subgrain cell structures. These microstructures also respond differently to the standard heat treatment routines for the conventional counterparts. Anisotropic mechanical properties are evident in the room temperature tensile tests and high temperature dwell-fatigue tests. The anisotropic tensile properties of EBM IN718 at room temperature are more likely due to the directional alignment of porosities along the building direction rather than the strong crysiii tallographic texture of ⟨100⟩ _ building direction. While for SLM IN718, the anisotropy is more likely attributed to the different extents of ‘work-hardening’ or dislocations accumulated between the horizontally and vertically built specimens. The anisotropy mechanisms in dwell-fatigue crack propagations at 550 ◦C for EBM and SLM IN718 are identical: higher effective stress intensity factor when intergranular cracking path is perpendicular to the loading direction, but lower effective stress intensity factor when intergranular cracking path is parallel to or slightly deviated from the loading direction. The 2160s dwell-fatigue cracking behaviours at 550 ◦C are of significant interest for AM IN718, of which test condition is similar to that of real service for IN718 disk in turbine engine. Generally, after conventional or short-term heat treatments, EBM IN718 shows better dwell-fatigue cracking resistance than SLM IN718. The damage mechanism is different for EBM and SLM IN718: the intergranular cracking in EBM IN718 is due to environmentally assisted grain boundary attack, while creep damage is active for SLM IN718. The considerably ‘deformed’ microstructure, specifically the subgrain cell structures in SLM IN718 resulted from the manufacturing process, is believed to activate creep damage even at a low temperature of 550 ◦C. And for SLM IN718, heat treatment routine must be carefully established to alter the ‘deformed’ microstructure for better time dependent cracking resistance at elevated temperature

A Comparative Study Between In- and Out-of phase Thermomechanical Fatigue Behaviour of a Single-Crystal Superalloy

In this study, the difference between in-phase (IP) and out-of-phase (OP) thermomechanical fatigue (TMF) cycling at 100–850 °C of a single-crystal superalloy is investigated both from a mechanical response and resulting microstructure perspective. Results indicate that there is no significant difference in fatigue lives between IP and OP TMF when similar strain ranges and crystal orientations are considered. The deformation mechanisms occurring during IP and OP TMF are similar where the main deformation mechanism for this alloy is localized deformation bands and crack initiation is preferred to these bands. Other TMF mechanisms, such as recrystallization and oxidation, are also discussed

A comparison study of the dwell-fatigue behaviours of additive and conventional IN718: The role of dislocation substructure on the cracking behaviour

The dwell-fatigue responses of high temperature materials, such as IN718, manufactured via additive manufacturing processes with different microstructures is of practical interest in terms of time-dependent cracking resistance at elevated temperature. In the present study, the dwell-fatigue cracking behaviours of IN718 manufactured via selective laser melting (SLM) with different heat treatments, and via electron beam melting (EBM) with different scanning strategies were compared at 550 degrees C and with a long 2160 s dwell-holding period. Comparison has also been made with a conventional forged counterpart. Detailed microstructure characterizations have been done to correlate the role of dislocation substructures on the dwell-fatigue damage mechanisms and cracking resistances. A mechanism regarding the susceptibility of the dislocation cell substructure in SLM materials to creep damage is proposed. In addition, the effects of other microstructure features on the dwell cracking resistance are also discussed.Funding Agencies|Faculty grant SFO-MAT-LiU from Linkoping University [2009-00971]; Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems (Vinnova)Vinnova [2016-05175]; Chinese Scholarship CouncilChina Scholarship Council; Agora Materiae</p

On the formation of microstructural gradients in a nickel-base superalloy during electron beam melting

Electron beam melting (EBM) is one of the most widely used additive manufacturing (AM) methods for metallic components and has demonstrated great potential to fabricate high-end components in the aerospace and energy industries. The thermal condition within a melt pool and the complicated thermal cycles during the EBM process are of interest but not yet well-understood, and will significantly affect the microstructural homogeneity of as-manufactured nickel-base superalloy components. To establish the thermal profile evolution during electron beam melting of nickel-base superalloys, Inconel 718 (IN718) is manufactured and characterized in the as-manufactured condition, on account of its representative segregation and precipitation behaviours. The microstructure gradient within a build, specifically the Laves phase volume fraction evolution, is rationalized with the solidification condition and the following in-situ annealing. Precipitations of carbide/nitride/carbonitride, delta and gamma/gamma are also discussed. Hardness is measured and correlated to the Laves phase volume fraction evolution and the precipitation of gamma/gamma . The results of this study will (i) shed light on microstructure evolution during the EBM process with regard to thermal history; and (ii) deepen the current understandings of solidification metallurgy for additive manufacturing of Ni-base superalloys. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Funding Agencies|Sandvik Machining Solutions AB in Sandviken, Sweden; Linkoping University [SFO-MAT-LiU#2009-00971]; Chinese Scholarship Council; Agora Materiae; Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems (Vinnova) [2016-02675]</p

High Temperature Mechanical Integrity of Selective Laser Melted Alloy 718 Evaluated by Slow Strain Rate Tests

Strain rate dependent deformation behaviours of selective laser melted Alloy 718 (IN718) are systematically studied at 550 and 650 °C by slow strain rate testing, with a forged counterpart as a reference. Selective laser melted IN718 shows significant susceptibility to intergranular cavitation, resulting in ductility degradation with decreasing strain rate. Detailed fractography and cross section inspections are employed to identify the damage mechanisms. Creep rates are also estimated and compared with the conventional counterparts. The possible critical factors for the inferiority of time dependent damage resistance of selective laser melted IN718 are discussed.Funding: Faculty grant SFOMATLiU from Linkoping University [200900971]; Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems (Vinnova)Vinnova [2016-05175]</p

On the Dwell-Fatigue Crack Propagation Behavior of a High-Strength Ni-Base Superalloy Manufactured by Selective Laser Melting

This study focuses on the dwell-fatigue crack propagation behavior of IN718 manufactured via selective laser melting (SLM). The dwell-fatigue test condition is 823 K (550 with a long 2160-s dwell-holding period. Effects of heat treatment and loading direction on dwell-fatigue crack propagation rates are studied. A grain boundary delta precipitate seems to be slightly beneficial to the dwell-fatigue cracking resistance of SLM IN718. A comparison has been made between SLM IN718 and forged counterparts at different temperatures, indicating that a creep damage mechanism is likely dominant for SLM IN718 under the present test condition. A general discussion of the inferior creep resistance of SLM IN718 is also included. The anisotropic dwell-fatigue cracking resistance has also been studied and rationalized with the effective stress intensity factor calculated from finite element modeling.Funding Agencies|Linkoping University; Siemens AG in Berlin, Germany; Faculty grant SFO-MAT-LiU at Linkoping University [2009-00971]; Chinese Scholarship CouncilChina Scholarship Council; Agora Materiae; Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems (Vinnova grant) [2016-05175]</p

Short-term Creep Behavior of an Additive Manufactured Non-weldable Nickel-base Superalloy Evaluated by Slow Strain Rate Testing

Additive manufacturing (AM) of high γ′ strengthened Nickel-base superalloys, such as IN738LC, is of high interest for applications in hot section components for gas turbines. The creep property acts as the critical indicator of component performance under load at elevated temperature. However, it has been widely suggested that the suitable service condition of AM processed IN738LC is not yet fully clear. In order to evaluate the short-term creep behavior, slow strain rate tensile (SSRT) tests were performed. IN738LC bars were built by laser powder-bed-fusion (L-PBF) and then subjected to hot isostatic pressing (HIP) followed by the standard two-step heat treatment. The samples were subjected to SSRT testing at 850 °C under strain rates of 1 × 10−5/s, 1 × 10−6/s, and 1 × 10−7/s. In this research, the underlying creep deformation mechanism of AM processed IN738LC is investigated using the serial sectioning technique, electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM). On the creep mechanism of AM polycrystalline IN738LC, grain boundary sliding is predominant. However, due to the interlock feature of grain boundaries in AM processed IN738LC, the grain structure retains its integrity after deformation. The dislocation motion acts as the major accommodation process of grain boundary sliding. Dislocations bypass the γ′ precipitates by Orowan looping and wavy slip. The rearrangement of screw dislocations is responsible for the formation of subgrains within the grain interior. This research elucidates the short-creep behavior of AM processed IN738LC. It also shed new light on the creep deformation mechanism of additive manufactured γ′ strengthened polycrystalline Nickel-base superalloys.Funding Agencies|Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems, (Vinnova)Vinnova [2016-05175, 2018-00804]; Linkoping University [2009-00971]</p